1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the art of electronic musical performance, and more specifically to an interactive system for synchronizing and simultaneously playing predefined musical sequences or tracks.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recorded music is traditionally packaged in the form of cassette tapes or compact discs (CDs) for playing on dedicated machines. The original performing and recording artists determine every aspect of the creation and presentation of the music, and users merely listen passively to the recordings.
For persons who wish to create and/or perform music themselves rather than just passively listening, several alternatives are currently available.
1. Physical performance by voice and traditional musical instruments.
2. Singing along with pre-recorded background sound tracks (karaoke).
3. Electronically creating and/or modifying music using a synthesizer.
4. Serially playing musical sequences or "snippets" using a computer and appropriate software.
The first option of actually creating and performing music requires musical training, as well as considerable time and practice. In addition, the music must be physically performed every time it is to be enjoyed.
A karaoke machine allows a user to select a musical background track from a plurality of prerecorded tracks, and sing along with the selected track as it is played. The user's vocal presentation is amplified and superimposed on the background track, which is usually an instrument-only version of the song.
Karaoke systems attempt to synchronize the music and the song by displaying the lyrics on a television screen as the background track plays. However, if the singer is not skilled, the performance can be unpleasantly out of synchronization with the background track.
Although the capabilities and complexities of electronic keyboards and synthesizers vary, they basically play an underlying rhythm onto which the user may superimpose additional notes via an input device which is typically a keyboard. These devices generally provide underlying rhythmic beats, and not complete sound tracks for songs. The requirement of additional musical input and the limitation as to what the devices are able to provide limits the usefulness of these devices to persons with musical ability and training.
With the proliferation of computers capable of processing multi-media data, some computer software systems allow a user to selectively play one or more sequences of prerecorded music. However, in these systems, each of the sequences is typically a short snippet from a larger musical score, and the system merely allows the user to serially arrange the order in which the snippets are played.
Computer systems further enable additional sounds which the user may select to be superimposed. However, the superimposed sounds, which also are snippets, are not synchronized to the serially arranged snippets being played. The users of such systems are typically limited to those with sufficient computer knowledge and experience to use the computer interfaces to create an aesthetic musical arrangement.